Ten Reasons Why You Should Not Buy a Futon from Walmart

Picture it: We had just moved to a new city, had unpacked everything, and were pretty much out of money. Then my sister-in-law calls to say she will be in town overnight and would like to see us. Of course we say yes, since we haven't seen her in awhile, and she is always great fun to be around (and lets face it, we wanted to show off our new place and new city to someone!). After hanging up, we look around at our beautiful, newly unpacked home. The carpets are clean, the TV is in a little nook (built in, oh my!), and the windows are tastefully (we think) curtained and pretty.

Wait a minute! Backtracking . . . what is that big gap in the middle of the living room? Oh, right, that's where our couch goes. Hold on! We don't have a couch. Our old couch broke and we didn't get a new one before moving. Now what do we do? Panic sounds good at this point. My sister-in-law will have nothing to sleep on but the cold, hard floor. We will not be able to sit and watch movies, or read books in comfort. Not to mention the huge, unsightly (and getting uglier by the minute) gap in the middle of the living room. Walmart is right up the street. Don't they sell furniture of some type? Yes, and it should be cheap and fit into our budget, and most importantly, it will fill the gap in the living room. "Put on your Sunday best, kids, we're going to Walmart!"

At Walmart, we found the perfect piece of furniture. It was a futon with a camel-colored cushion and beautiful wooden arms that looked rather golden in the picture on the box. Absolutely perfect so far. A quick glance at the sign below the box tells us that this particular model is on sale for $239.00 in a rool-back special. Oh, I love Walmart. Let's buy it and take it home. Ok, let's wait for assistance, that box is heavy!

Two hours later (finding a sales clerk to assist us in carrying the box was a bit difficult, but we not be deterred in our mission to take the perfect futon home) we dragged the box out of the car, lugged it along the walkway, and dumped it on the floor of the living room. My husband excitedly ran to his toolbox and began to gather the neccessary tools for assembly of the precious futon. I hurriedly began to rip the box apart and take out pieces, oohing and ahhing over each tiny wire. Wire? Yes, apparently, the back of the futon was metal and needed a wire thingy to help hold it in place. OK, different, but that's ok, we like being unique. We began to put the futon together. It was relatively easy and only took about a half hour. Yeah! Now the ultimate test. We sat down on the futon, prepared to be comfy and bask in the lovliness of new furniture (it even had that irresistible new furniture smell).

Ouch. We've been on the new futon maybe 5 minutes, and there is something poking my back. Well, lets pull the cushion up better. There, that's better. Now the wire frame is poking my legs, not my back. What was that squeaking sound? The back just bent out of shape. Hmmm. . .

The long and short of our experience is that the futon wasn't comfortable to sit on from the begining. The "cushion" turned out to be a thin layer of foam that packed down the minute we sat on it. The metal (or more accurately, wire) frame bent the first time we sat on it, and continues to bend three weeks later. It has yet to break, though, I'll give it that. The wooden arms, so pretty in the picture, turned out to be the best feautre of the futon, making it look somewhat attractive even when the frame is bent out of shape. They sure are hard on your head when you want to lay on the futon, though. All in all, this wasn't a good deal, even for $239. So here it is in a nutshell:

Top Ten Reasons Not To Buy a Futon At Walmart:

1. It is hard as a rock
2. It bends easily
3. It is uncomfortable to sit on
4. It is even more uncomfortable to sleep on
5. It is a waste of $239
6. The wooden arms are hazardous to heads
7. It comes in a very heavy box
8. It squeaks whenever you move on it
9. It is a little short to completely fill the hole in the living room where a couch should go
10. Who buys furniture at Walmart, anyway? (besides me!)